Shelburne Farms: The Farm Barn

Shelburne Farms: The Farm Barn (Vermont, USA)
44°23.743’ N 073°16.490’ W

Shelburne Farms is a non-profit organisation dedicated to education and preservation.
It is located on the shores of Lake Champlain and is comprised of a working farm, historic landmarks, walking trails, a cheesemaking facility, a bakery and many more interesting sites.

The Shelburne Farms Welcome Center can easily be accessed by dinghy. Make your way to the south end of Shelburne Bay and tie up your inflatable at the Shelburne Bay Boat Ramp (44°23.972’N 073°14.077’W). It is quite a busy boat launch but by pulling in close to shore and tying to the north side of the dock, you’ll be out of the way. From there it is a short walk on Bay Road to the Welcome Center; about 0.6 mile. Just keep in mind that it is quite a busy road on weekends and not meant for pedestrians. However, drivers we came across went out of their way to pass us at a safe distance. Got to love Vermonters!

From there, you can opt to enjoy the walking trails, ride the shuttle to the Farm Barn to or take a 90-minute property tour which will take you all the way to Saxton Point and the Inn. We took the tour twice already and both time enjoyed a very different perspective on this very special estate.

A short walk from the Welcome Center is the Farm Barn. There you can learn about cheesemaking – the farm produces its own Cheddar from a herd of Brown Swiss cows, you can visit a demonstration vegetable garden, say hello to a wide range of farm animals, grab a bite to eat at the Farm Cart or buy fresh bread from O Bread Bakery. Volunteers from OFES, a raptor rehabilitation facility, are also on-site for educational talks about owls and they do bring special guests. During our last visit we met a barn owl and a screeching owl, both fallen victim to road traffic and now doing an amazing job teaching kids.